Crossing Over
by Empathic Soul
Summary: Only those scars caused by people with great feelings leave a mark. What will Naru do when Mai is in danger of something that he himself cannot sense or see. Will this finally force him to acknowledge her or to tell her what he really feels? Pls. R&R :
1. Chapter 1

**CROSSING OVER**

"_Prologue"

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_

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt and any of the characters. Some of the characters in this fanfiction are created for the purpose of creating a deeper plot. There may be some violent scenarios during the entire story. There is no yaoi, shounen-ai, or yuri in this story. Keep and open mind and read at your own risk.

Please read and review. Thank you! It would really motivate me to write more chapters. Please tell me what you think of it so I could improve and continue to write more articles.

* * *

_She kept on running and running. The hallway seemed so empty and it felt like the air was constricting around her. She felt as if she was running for hours and hours and yet she was not going anywhere near her destination. Her face felt cold and yet she was sweating. She felt pain in her legs from all the running but she just didn't stop. She could feel breathless, but her breathing was normal. In a sense, everything she felt wasn't normal but her physical body was normal. It felt so different. It was like she was being teased, being mocked, and she had no where to run but forward._

_Her auburn red hair glistened with her sweat as she continuously ran in this endless hallway. She continued to look forward hoping that she would finally find the door or the exit that she felt she was looking for. She continued to run, run, run, and run without even looking back to where she was before. She continued to look forward and run even though she was completely exhausted. _

_It was a never-ending winding road. Everything was going around and around, and it always felt like she was going through the same exact thing. She's been running and running but the feeling was no one was really chasing her._

_Then she stopped._

_It was not really like her usual dream. Usually she would see someone in her dream. She would see spirits floating around her. She would see the past, the present, and the future. She would see people in danger and she would see people who would be needing their help. And most especially…_

_She would see Naru. _

_But this time, she didn't. She was alone in a long winding hallway with silver pillars and transparent floors. The background was black and a few blue areas that looked like aurora fields in the sky. But regardless, everything was dark. She could see the pillars and the path but nothing else. She felt so alone and lonely at that time. And most importantly…_

_Naru wasn't there in her dream._

_She was so used to seeing him in her dreams. Every time he was there, she felt so at ease. She felt as if she has nothing to be afraid of. But this time, she was alone in this area. It makes her feel uncertain and unused to the situation. She's feeling very afraid._

"_Naru…" Mai whispered into the air, trying to breathe in some air. She felt so exhausted after running so far._

_No one answered._

_She didn't know but she really just wanted to try if he would answer._

"_Naru?" She turned to her side as if expecting a voice to answer. She always believed that she would see him in her dreams._

_Still no one answered._

"_He's not here again." Mai felt a surge of disappointment in her when she felt that Naru was not around her. She looked ahead and wanted to believe that he was probably at the end of the hallway. _

"_Maybe he's waiting there." Mai looked forward. _

_She brushed away her bangs from her face and breathed in some air, preparing herself to run some more. She dusted her clothes and was about to start running when a voice resounded from behind her._

_The voice was saying something. _

_It was coming from her back and she really wanted to turn around but somehow, her dream wouldn't let her look behind her. She simply looked in front, glanced at her peripheral vision, and nothing more but relied on her senses._

"_Who's there?" Mai asked in general._

_She felt that the voice answered her but she just could not hear what the voice was saying. Cold wind brushed her slender legs and she felt a shiver run down her spine._

"_Who's there?!" Mai asked again, a little agitated this time._

_She felt that the voice answered again. But she didn't know why she could not hear what that person said. It's as if she only knew that the person answered her and she did not know what the person told her._

"_Please…please say it louder." Mai requested straining her ears to listen to the voice._

_But there was nothing._

_The scenery changed. The floor that she was standing on started to swirl. She stood holding her ground, believing in her own capabilities. Everything around her started to became blurry and a different scene appeared._

_She was standing underneath a big cherry blossom tree. Pink petals fell down gracefully underneath the moon's light. It was obviously night time because the surroundings were dark. She was simply standing there surrounded by beautiful pink petals._

"_Mai…"_

_A soft voice echoed across the ground. She turned her head to the side to look at the direction where the voice came from, but she was only greeted by an empty space._

"_Mai…"_

_There it was again. She looked on the other side. But it wasn't there. She didn't know but somehow it felt like she already heard that voice before. But she just can't seem to place her finger as to where she could have heard that voice._

_The voice was from a man. It was low with a slight tenor in his voice. It sounded soft and at the same time calming. It was almost similar to the voice of Naru but a little more on the softer and gentler side. Almost similar to John but still a bit more mature than him. She honestly felt like she already heard this voice before._

"_Mai…"_

_She turned around and saw a silhouette in front of her. Being surprised, she took a step back and felt her back press at the bark of the cherry blossom tree. She tried to see the face of the aggressor, but somehow, she just can't make out a form. The silhouette simply stood there, not even attempting to go near her. She placed a hand reflexively over her chest just to feel her breathing as the silhouette seemed to turn to the side._

"_Why…" The voice asked, a little broken._

"_Eh?" Mai managed to mutter. It was the only sound that came out clearly from her during that time. The silhouette seemed to turn to her, although she really could not be a hundred percent sure._

"…_Why…" the voice trembled. _

_Mai strained her hearing to listen to the words. It was so soft as if it blended with the wind and vanished as fast._

"…_Are…of…me…"_

"_What?" Mai replied. She didn't understand. All she managed to grab was three simple words and she really could not even begin to comprehend what she would reply._

"_Mai…why…are…of…me…"_

_It repeated itself. But she still can't understand._

_It felt like a message, something even more close to a question directed towards her. She closed her eyes to try to see the silhouette when suddenly her surroundings changed. She was now at a house, standing at the lawn. _

"_What? A lawn?" Mai muttered to herself. Her dream was getting more vivid. It was the sunset that made everything in the scene look so old. It was like watching an old movie where the characters are blurred._

_She saw a child, whose face she really cannot see, run out of the room holding a big doll. She was laughing and looked like she was playing with someone. Following the girl was another silhouette of an older man. He ran towards the girl laughing and trying to catch the little girl._

_Mai smiled at how happy the scene was._

_But…_

_The laughter was short lived._

_Her eyes widened when the entire surroundings went white. She saw a little tinge of red and tried to blink her eyes. But the room was still starting to be painted in red. She tried to rub her eyes to clear her vision but nothing happened. She thought that the room was tainted with red, but what surprised her was when she held her head…_

_She looked at her hand…_

_It was covered with blood._

_Her hand was basking in blood that she did not know the source. She stared at her trembling hand and felt as if she wanted to cry. She looked in front of her and saw the body of a man lying on the ground. The small girl crying so hard beside the body of the older man. The girl was shouting, crying, wailing. She was looking and shouting for help, but it seems like no one was coming._

_Mai wanted to go but it was as if she was stuck in that position. She could not move at all. She tried to go to where the two were staying but it seems as if she really could not move at all. It was sudden when the entire room started to fill up with blood. The child kept on crying and crying. The man was not moving. And she was just standing there watching. _

_She felt a strong sting of pain on her chest as she struggled to find a place to lean. It felt as if her chest was being held on tightly and it felt as if she wanted to shout. Nothing was coming out of her. There was no sound at all. _

_Naru…_

_She thought hard. She didn't know what to do already and she was starting to panic. She felt as if everything was enclosing in her and the two people in front of her. The child was oblivious and the man was dead. She stood there watching the scene as she felt herself starting to lose consciousness._

_Naru…_

_She whispered to herself desperately trying to cling to her belief that Naru would save her._

_Naru…_

"_Onee-chan…" the child muttered snapping Mai out of her thoughts. The grip on her chest loosened a bit. "…he…can't reach us…"_

"_Eh?" Mai muttered weakly, trying to muster strength._

"_This is a place…where we cannot be reached…" the child told her. "Onee-chan…stop calling…"_

"_Why?" Mai's knees suddenly gave up and she fell down. The child stood there in front of her. _

_The child's face seemed to become a bit sad. Even though Mai could not see the expression, she could feel that the child was trying to debate with herself if she should be honest or not. She stared at the child and smiled warmly._

"_It's okay. You can tell me." Mai encouraged._

_The child seems to be a bit receptive of her encouragement and nodded towards her. Mai felt the constricting of her chest return. It was surprising that she lost her breath for a couple of seconds. She placed her hand over her chest and looked at the child._

"_Onee-chan…" the child warned. "Don't call him here…"_

"_Why?" Mai replied. "W-why can't I…call Naru?"_

_The child looked at her._

"_Onee-chan, he will die…" _

_If she was breathless before, this time it felt that there was no air at all. She touched her face as a reflex and looked at the child who was staring at her straight._

"_What do you mean? Is…Naru's life in danger?" Mai asked weakly. She was slowly losing her consciousness due to fatigue._

_The child shook her head._

"_Not out there. But here…" the child sighed. "Onee-chan…"_

"_Hai?" Mai encouraged._

_"Don't call him here..." the child warned her. The child was slowly moving towards her as if wanting to grab her hand. She simply stood there as if she was waiting._

_The child looked at her straight while trying to hold her hands._

"_Onee-chan..."_

_**"Only the dead are here…"**_

_

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_

TBC

What do you think? Please read and review. This is my first Ghost hunt fic. I'm also writing a bleach and gravitation fic. I really like reviews because it helps me write the fiction better. Please do review my prologue because it encourages me to decide what to write next. Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

**CROSSING OVER**

"_Chapter 1"

* * *

_

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt and any of the characters. Some of the characters in this fanfiction are created for the purpose of creating a deeper plot. There may be some violent scenarios during the entire story. There is no yaoi, shounen-ai, or yuri in this story. Keep and open mind and read at your own risk.

Please read and review. Thank you! It would really motivate me to write more chapters. Please tell me what you think of it so I could improve and continue to write more articles.

For all those that reviewed my prologue, I am deeply humbled by your comments, suggestions and praises. It encourages me to write more and more about this story. I am so happy of your suggestions and also your praises that I really want to write this story. If I have the time I would try my best to write at least 1 chapter a day.

About the review regarding Eugene, I'm not really sure. My story is sort of AU and it has something to do with the relationship of Naru and Mai. It wouldn't really be something like a fluff thing, or something that would make them love each other easily.

I want my story to be more realistic and as close to the series as possible.

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_**Dreams are created by a part of our brain, specifically the unconscious section. People say that this part of our brain is actually unused and it is composed of 90 hidden capabilities. People who are able to tap on this unconscious part of our brains are said to have different abilities, perhaps some may call it telekinesis or psychokinesis—in layman's terms, ESP. However, there are only few people gifted with such special traits. Some of them are even considered as outcast because of their deviant behavior. **_

_**Some consider it as a talent or a gift.**_

_**Others consider it as a curse.

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**_

Blue sapphire eyes stared at the pile of paper on top of the wooden table. His dark raven hair flowed down his face and danced gently with the wind. His expression hardened as one of the strands of his hair fell on top of his eyes. He closed his eyes for a millisecond and then reopened them again.

For him, it was one of those days. His assistant, Lin would refer to this days as his bad-tempered days, but to him, it was simply one of those days that he would surmise himself to being…

BORED.

Yes, Shibuya Kazuya is bored.

He tried to stifle a yawn coming out from his lips. He didn't really want to be caught off guard by anyone who would attempt to come in his room. He already tried so hard to make his stoic character and very disciplined impression towards his team and he would not really want to ruin that by being caught off guard because for his team he is the leader. He should be able to keep his composure at all times and should always be alert.

But…

Damn, he is really bored.

The weather seems to agree with him.

Ever had one of those days that it is nether sunny or rainy. It's not cloudy either but it was very humid. It is one of those days that you would just dream of lying on a hammock resting under this peaceful atmosphere. It invites you to simply rest, put away all the work that you have, and close your eyes for some peace and relaxation.

Yeah, it was that kind of day…

This day only needed classical music playing in the background and it would have been the perfect lullaby. For the past few months, the research team was so busy. Accommodating various people in his team was quite trouble some at the beginning, but it ended up being worthwhile.

John Brown, the Australian Exorcist, is very much useful to his team. With the ability to purify spirits in the body of a human being without crushing the body or causing any fatal injury is very efficient especially in cases of possession of evil spirits. They get requests and pleas of help with regards to this situation almost once a week. The priest enlisted himself in one of the Catholic Organizations in Tokyo and asked to be stationed in Japan for at least 2 years. Luck is in their side when the Vatican Council agreed to the proposal.

SPR also has a Miko, or Japanese Priestess, or perhaps to be more accurate, self-professed priestess. Matsuzaki Ayako, daughter of a family of wealthy doctors and spoiled brat, decided to spend some of her leisure time in the SPR. She would drop by at least thrice a week to visit and join in some of the missions, but most of the time, she would be out and performing some of the duties that she has to do as the lady of their manor. She never mentioned a lot of details about her parents or her life except describing it in general, but she is definitely useful especially in cleansing evil spirits.

Specializing as a medium and spirit detector, Masako is of help to them when channeling her energy and sensing any paranormal spirits nearby. Naru is very much aware of her self-professed love to him ever since day 1. But he was not really that interested in any romantic relationships then so he never really took notice—and he's not going to do so anytime soon. Masako usually comes by every weekend.

Their team also has a very unique monk with them. Actually he refers to himself as a bassist more than a monk. Takigawa Hosho performs live in bars and restaurants at night with his bandmates and at day reports to SPR and assists during missions. He's very efficient in creating spells and breaking barriers of paranormal phenomenon. At the same time, provides the group with much needed humor.

Lin, his assistant, seems to be taking everything well. At first, Naru had his reservations in making his team bigger. He thought that Lin would not like more people in the group, especially more Japanese people. But it surprised him to see that Lin is able to adjust well with the group. Lin's conversing with them casually, and became less stiff than he was before.

This is somewhat quite…

Weird.

Especially when you already got used to seeing Lin quiet for a whole day…

But, Naru decided to see this for the better.

Lastly, Mai. Taniyama Mai.

Initially, he wanted to have her as a part of his team because she is efficient. When he saw her in the classroom back then, telling ghost stories with some of her friends, he already sensed his abilities. Because of his extra powerful psychic abilities, sensing people with the same nature of skills is not really that difficult.

When he followed the feeling back then, it led him to her.

Yes.

Destiny indeed knew how to play a game.

They met again and again, and then he finally decided in getting her into the team. Before he felt that he needed to have her because of her abilities. Watching her abilities grow every after mission, it meant for him that this girl is getting stronger.

But the weird thing was…

The more she got stronger…

The more he didn't want her to go on missions.

Weird, right?

Yeah. For Naru it was very weird. There was no logic in it.

Naru could feel the lids of his eyes slowly lowering itself to a close when the door suddenly opened. It he would have been anyone "normal" he would suddenly stand up his chair, start shouting at the intruder, demanding for an explanation, and muttering curses in the process. But well, he isn't anywhere near being normal anyway, so he did what he ought to do.

He sat there, staring or rather glaring at the newcomer while narrowing his already narrow eyes to a slit. He could have sworn that the intruder twitched a little at his scrutinizing gaze, but that would be almost near to impossible. Because in reality, Lin never twitches…

"Lin." Naru muttered, to someone else, it sounded like a curse. The manner it came out of his mouth, if it had a tangible form, it'll probably look like a slithering snake.

Naru again, honestly could have sworn that Lin flinched, even a bit.

"Naru." Lin replied. He was indeed taken aback by the venom coming out of his boss' mouth. It really felt like he was bit by some snake or something.

"What is it?" Naru propped an elbow on the table and leaned on his hand while looking at the side. "Don't tell me that you came barging your way in here just to tell me my name."

Lin didn't know what caused this bad-tempered day, but it surely was one of those he ranked as intensity 7—in short, one of the mood swings that he rather not get himself messed up for too long. Lin had his own deductions why his boss would have this kind of temper but he'd keep it to himself for now.

"Lin. Why. Are. You. Here." Naru stared at the man who stood his ground.

"Naru, there's a guest outside." Lin had to stop him from swallowing the forming lump in his throat. He could have sworn that he saw Naru roll his eyes.

Naru made a move to stand up. He dusted his black long sleeve polo shirt and tucked one of his hands in his pocket. He looked at the side, with the same expressionless face and then looked back at Lin.

"You should have said so in the first place."

Naru passed him after a few moments. Lin simply stood there a little stoned by the stare that was sent towards him. Something must be bothering his boss to him to act that way. He looked at the window and felt that the weather is a bit "lazy". He made his move towards the desk of his boss to fix some of the scattered papers when his eye caught something that he never saw.

He stared at for a while before he reached out to pick it up.

He held a silver frame and turned it to face him. Lin's eyes widened a bit before a smile came out of his expression. He slowly placed it down the desk in the same order before returning to fixing the scattered papers.

He placed them neatly on a file case and turned to move out of the room.

The frame stood there over Naru's table.

It had a simple picture of a boy, about 10 years old, two girls surrounding him, and flowers all over the place. The kids had a wonderful smile on their faces, so bright and charming. At the bottom right there's a name written underneath it.

It was blurry but there was something there…

Only this word was visible.

_**Forever.

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**_

Naru is sitting there in the room facing the man in front of him. The man is wearing a pair of black trousers paired with red long sleeves polo with a few buttons loose. He appears to be a foreigner based on his appearance. His hair is platinum blonde while his eyes glistened with blue fire. He simply sat there staring straight at Naru as if contemplating if he would be able to trust the director of SPR.

Naru felt the distrust. If there was anything at all in this world that he hated most, that would be distrust.

"Your business. State it." Naru forgot to bit his tongue. Those words really came out sharp.

Naru would have expected the man to go out and leave at his rudeness but the opposite happened. The man simply smiled and looked at him as if trying to pierce him by his gaze. Naru wasn't intimidated at all.

The man crossed his legs and his arms at the same time and leaned comfortably at the chair. Naru simply did not move.

"Shibuya Kazuya." The man started. If Naru was surprised, the only sign was that his eyes got a little smaller. "You're the director of this place, are you?"

Annoying. Naru concluded.

"And so what if I am?" Naru almost growled. He really didn't mean to become so rude to a customer but this guy is getting in his nerves. Staring at him didn't really make him feel comfortable around this client, and to add up to that, he didn't know why this man knew of his name.

The man lifted his index finger and started to sway it back and forth as if mocking him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, that's no way to treat a client, Shibuya-san." The man teased. "You should be offering me tea instead of being such a bastard."

_Wow…the nerve. _Naru thought with a killing intention. Something about this guy really ticked him off to an edge. "State your business. Unlike your initial impression, we are very busy here."

"Okay, I guess I overused my welcome." The man smiled. He raised his hand in surrender and smirked at Naru.

Naru stared back.

"My name is Tachibana Yuki. I came here to request the aid of your group regarding one of the concerns of my family." The man ran his hand over his hair as if an unconscious gesture.

Naru remained silent and Yuki considered this an opportunity to continue.

"My family has a house at the end of Hiei Mountain. Our house there seems to be what I can commonly call as haunted. There are some days that we see that house set on fire but then the next day, we wouldn't see a single sign that it was burned." Yuki reported.

"Perhaps it was a fragment of the imagination." Naru concluded but Yuki interrupted.

"Yes, but I don't think it is possible to imagine the same thing without saying anything about it to anyone right?" Yuki countered. "Everyone in the family saw it. We ran to that place and yet nothing was found wrong."

It was silent for a while and the only sound that they could hear was the sound of a keyboard.

"Shibuya-san, I would like to request for the services of your group." Yuki muttered.

Naru thought it was not necessary.

"It's probably caused by the type of light in the area or something. I don't think such a thing would be caused by a paranormal event." Naru argued.

"It is paranormal. I assure you." Yuki's voice got a bit lower and Naru stopped from walking away. With his back still turned at his visitor, he tried to listen to some more stories. "Please accept this."

Naru turned to look back and stared at the man still kneeling down. He debated within himself if he should be taking the mission and performing a research on such a place that he denied having spirits in. But before he could make a decision, the door suddenly opened and it surprised everyone.

Naru, Lin, and Yuki almost jumped out of their seats and places when Mai entered the room wearing her school uniform. She stood there breathing heavily, one arm leaning on the door planted on the wall, while her head is bent down as she tried to catch her breath.

"You should be more gentle." Lin scolded a little. His voice soft as he handed her a glass of water.

Mai smiled at him and nodded. "Thanks Lin. I'm here for work!"

"Late. Late. Late." Naru muttered under his breath.

Why was she late? Didn't she know that she should have reported earlier? What happened to her?

She should have called. There exists a telephone for people to call in others to inform them of their status. There is also this new trend called cell phones and it's also used to inform others about their status. But this girl did not even bother telling him about those things and it really irked him.

Well, that was the translation of the three lates. But he never really was one to voice out his thoughts. He was rudely snapped out of his reverie when he heard a soft scream coming from the newcomer. He turned around only to see Mai being swept off her feet and into the arms of this man called Yuki.

"Eh?!" Mai was surprised to say the least.

Yuki was hugging Mai.

And it was not something that one would call a friendly embrace.

Yuki's right arm was wrapped around the petite waist of the redhead. One of his hand rested at the back of Mai's head. His platinum blonde hair mixing with her red locks and his face buried at the crook of her neck. Mai's expression was that of shock but that did not really help Naru's impression to lighten.

Somehow…

The situation just got a little…

Complicated.

Naru was suddenly holding Yuki's collar and yanked him away from his assistant.

A little rudely.

"_**Back off." Came a venomous warning.

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**_

TBC

Please read and review.

For those who reviewed my story, thank you so much. There are a few grammar errors here and there in this next chapter, but please continue to read and review.


	3. Chapter 3

**CROSSING OVER**

"_Chapter 2"

* * *

_

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt and any of the characters. Some of the characters in this fanfiction are created for the purpose of creating a deeper plot. There may be some violent scenarios during the entire story. There is no yaoi, shounen-ai, or yuri in this story. Keep and open mind and read at your own risk.

Sorry it took a while before this came out. I'm sorry that this took a while. My internet was down and I couldn't really place it in the site. Please read and review for me and check the descriptions.

For a brief overview of the story's plot, it's a little deeper than usual. It goes into comparing paranormal behavior to psychological behavior. It also has some parts that will surprise you. The start of this story will be a little slow because I believe in developing the plot before going to the main conflict or climax of the story. Hope you could wait for that. This would not be a very long epic, rather it would reach up to 5 to 8 chapters plus a prologue and an epilogue. Regarding pairings, it would be a Naru-Mai pairing and maybe other pairings in the future.

For the rating of this story. It will not be fluff. There will be parts that will be a bit tragic and violent. So please bear with those parts. For those who read my gravitation fic, you would know the flow of how I write my stories.

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_**Everything was so sudden. One moment, this client was hugging her the next moment, Naru was infront of her trying to push away this "client" then Lin was suddenly on the go and then boom. She wasn't really complaining. It was her ultimate dream to be protected by her cold, stoic boss. But, this was really mind-boggling. **_

_**So the only coherent sound that came out of her mouth was…**_

"_**Eh?!"

* * *

**_

_Yuki was hugging Mai._

_And it was not something that one would call a friendly embrace._

_Yuki's right arm was wrapped around the petite waist of the redhead. One of his hand rested at the back of Mai's head. His platinum blonde hair mixing with her red locks and his face buried at the crook of her neck. Mai's expression was that of shock but that did not really help Naru's impression to lighten._

_Somehow…_

_The situation just got a little…_

_Complicated._

_Naru was suddenly holding Yuki's collar and yanked him away from his assistant._

_A little rudely._

"_Back off." Came a venomous warning_

_Mai was pushed behind Naru all of sudden. The turn of events was very much confusing at that point but it became even more confounding to the simple mind of the redhead when Naru called out for Lin._

"_Lin." Naru spoke sternly._

_Lin jumped in the middle of the room, chanted a few spells, and suddenly this Yuki guy came falling on the ground. Mai watched the man's form fall gracelessly on the ground while observing Naru's dead gaze. Lin stood in front of her as well while holding his arms In front of him as a reflex. Mai was particularly curious as to why this was happening all of a sudden._

_But because of her genuinely caring nature, her eyes focused on the person lying on the floor suddenly unconscious. Her eyes widened when Naru spoke out of the silence._

"_Lin. Is it over?" Naru asked coldly, not even looking at the direction of the other man._

"_Yes." Lin agreed while placing down his hand._

"_What?" Mai interrupted the conversation. As usual, none of the two men spared her a glance. But nevertheless, she got an explanation._

"_As you may know, I do not have the ability to sense spirits or ghosts. This person came into the room bringing a spirit with him." Naru explained._

"_What?! And it wasn't even sensed at all by the techy things you have here?" Mai teased but was rudely interrupted._

"_It was. But Lin felt it was not a harmful spirit. However…" Naru leaned down towards the unconscious man. "It is a type of vengeful spirit that can change its nature. In some stories in the southern part of Asia, there are what they call ghosts that when you see seem a bit harmless. But when they meet with someone who was connected to them or has a semblance to someone connected to them, specifically their death, the ghosts suddenly turn dark and become vengeful."_

"_Eh?!" Mai took at least three steps back. "B-but, I don't really remember doing anything bad to someone."_

"_Perhaps an unfinished business with you…" Naru's eyes did not leave the unconscious client. "…or someone who looks like you."_

_**After Naru said this, Mai fainted.

* * *

**_

"Taniyama-san." Lin tried to call out to the person lying on the sofa. However, the person did not even move at all.

Mai's breathing was stable so it was enough for them to conclude that she was still alive. But they were surprised that she suddenly fainted. At first they thought that she might have been possessed by whatever possessed this client, who is still unconscious at the other sofa, but then Lin was not able to sense any spirits around the area.

They were a bit reckless in entertaining the needs of that other client a while back. It was their mistake. But they never really anticipated that someone like Mai would have a vengeful spirit after her. After all, no one in their group really hated this girl.

"Lin, how are they?" Naru asked looking over his desk while switching on the computer in the process.

"Taniyama-san and Yuki-san is still unconscious. Their vitals are stable. I believe that they are simply sleeping." Lin replied.

Naru gave him a nod before standing up to get some books on the shelves. He took out a couple of books, one on paranormal behavior and the other on psychological behavior.

Naru sat on his desk as he browsed through some books. Lin was silent. Although Lin's gotten used to seeing his boss sitting there, reading his books, and doing research, he could already analyze the way Naru's thoughts go.

He knew that Naru was thinking of this situation as a case already. The fact that they were not alert and aware of the sudden change in the spirit's wavelength, the fact that it went after Mai, and the fact that Lin knew and was well aware of the developing "rapport" between his boss and the female assistant, this will be considered an important case for Shibuya Kazuya.

Of course, he'd probably find a reason like this being something related to a case of vengeful spirit or something, but in reality it was important because it involved Taniyama Mai, the person that Shibuya Kazuya decided to protect---since Day 1.

Shibuya Kazuya was a person who only wanted to care for himself before. He did not have much friends and he was too much of a workaholic. But now, he learned how to take care of other people. He learned how to care for the people around him and even gain new friends.

_He's growing up…_Lin thought to himself.

* * *

"_Eh?! Where am I?" Mai glanced at her surroundings and found herself in a place where there is an old house, a big lawn, and an old car at the left side of the lawn_

_The sky was colored layered with orange and blank clouds. The surroundings were dark. As she stood there, she felt as if the air was choking her. She tried to look around but it seems that she's focused on the scene that was being shown to her. She stared hard. It was that same child she saw in her dream last night. This time, the child stood in front of her as if she knew Mai. Her small hands reached for the older girls hands and slowly enveloped Mai's. Mai felt her hands. It surprised her that it was warm. She stared at through the eyes of the girl and the girl stared back at her. _

_Suddenly, the girl spoke._

"_Onee-san. You came back." The young girl smiled._

"_Came back?" Mai knelt down._

_The girl nodded. She smiled towards Mai and gave her an embrace. _

"_Yes, onee-san, you came back again." The girl replied. "Last night, you were here too."_

"_Last night?" Mai muttered to herself and she remembered her dream. She really couldn't forget about her dream last night. It's simply amazing that everything here in this place right now is relatively the same except that this girl, is now holding her in her arms._

"_What is this place?" Mai asked randomly, trying to look around the area. She saw a vague picture at the corner of the room. That certain place in the room was distorted and she could not really make out what was located there. She squinted her eyes to get a better view but she couldn't._

"_Don't." the girl embraced her tighter. "Onee-san, don't look at that."_

"_Eh?! Why not?" Mai asked softly. She continued to look around the room hoping to get a really good mental image of the entire place._

"_Just don't…" the girl responded weakly._

_Mai was suddenly surprised when the girl shouted. Mai's eyes widened upon seeing a silhouette shrouding the girl's petite frame and dragging her by the hair. The child's face appeared to show pain and agony. She was crying loudly. Screaming names, places, and even emotions, but somehow, Mai could not fathom what she was trying to say. She made a move to follow the girl but she was stuck. _

_She stared at her legs and saw that there was a hand holding her leg down the floor. She felt chills run down her spine as she tried to shake off the hand only to see another pair of hands grab her wrists. Her eyes widened and she felt so scared that she also wanted to cry._

"_Don't cry!" The child warned as she was being dragged away from Mai._

_Mai's face went up to look at the girl being dragged. She was still crying but she was looking straight towards the Mai. Her face was calm but tears just kept falling down her porcelain skin. Their eyes met and Mai felt as if she was taken in by that look_

_She could hear from her background someone calling out to her. _

_**Mai.**_

"_My name…someone…" Mai thought. She tried to look away but she could not. She just continued to stare at the girl who went farther and farther away from her. She wanted to cry out the name of the girl but she didn't really know._

_She could feel her tears coming down her cheeks as well._

_**Mai.**_

_There it was again. Someone was calling her again. She suddenly saw another pair of hands grab her shoulders. She was starting to panic and it felt like she wanted to run away but she really could not leave. She wanted to go to the child's place and rescue her from the malicious silhouette trying to get her out but she could not move away._

_She was brought out from her self-pity when the child spoke._

"_Onee-san…" _

_The girl's expression softened. _

"_Don't come back here again."_

_**MAI!

* * *

**_

Taniyama Mai opened her eyes suddenly and saw sapphire eyes staring down at her. She could have sworn that she saw a tinge of worry in the features of his boss, but it vanished as soon as she saw it. Naru moved up to look away from her and mumbled something under his breath before crossing his arms over his chest.

"Are you all right?" Naru asked with the same cold tone as ever. But because Mai has been working with this guy for almost a year now, she already got used to this kind of treatment, or at least developed some kind of defense against it.

"Naru?" Mai muttered weakly. She felt as if she was sleeping for a whole year. She tried to stand up but she fell back down. "Wha? I feel really weak…"

Naru stared at her. He concluded therefore that this woman did not really know or wasn't aware of the previous circumstances that occurred for the past 2 hours. It literally drove him to the edge, almost losing his cool in the process, when he realized that Mai Taniyama was not breathing for at least 30 minutes. Yes.

**For at least 30 minutes, Mai Taniyawa was not breathing at all.

* * *

**

_Lin picked up Mai and gently placed her on the sofa. After placing a pillow underneath her head, he proceeded to go to Yuki and swung the guy over his shoulders and placed him down on the other empty seat. He did it so carelessly that Yuki almost muttered an audible "ouch" after hitting his head on the edge of the sofa._

_Naru stood there beside Mai and studied her petite frame. He checked her breathing and felt that it was relatively normal. He surmised that she probably was just exhausted and it was probably one of those moments that her extra sensory perception is working. He hypothesized that she probably went into those dream moments and probably is having some kind of premonition or blast from the past._

_However, this was certainly different because it's been past an hour and a half and yet none of the two are awake. Although neither Lin nor Naru were showing signs of apprehension or restlessness, they were undeniably worried. _

"_Lin." Naru took a step forward and sat beside the Mai. He placed his hand in front of her nose and his eyes widened. "Lin, Mai's not breathing."_

_Lin hurriedly ran beside them and placed his hand over her pulse. His eyes widened by a fraction than his normal. He looked at Naru who seemed oblivious to him. He saw a quick look of panic from his boss but it quickly disappeared. They honestly do not know what to do. _

"_Naru. What do we do about this?" Lin asked and Naru simply sat there silently._

"_Wait." Naru muttered softly not letting his eyes trail away from his female assistant's face. "Perhaps, it's another one of those…"_

_**Lin merely nodded so they decided to wait.

* * *

**_

"Eh?!" Mai somehow can almost label that as her most favorite expression. "What do you mean for 30 minutes?!"

Naru stared hard and said nothing. It really wasn't a question was it? How do you answer that kind of question anyway? Of course it was thirty minutes, the clock said so. The other answer would be, 'duh', So instead of being rude, he kept quiet. Lin chose to keep the same pace as his boss.

On the other hand, Mai was a bit taken aback by the information. Of course realizing that she was not breathing for 30 minutes wasn't really an interesting thing to be happy about. She felt a bit unnerved with the idea, okay, a lot unnerved. Her eyes accidentally landed on the other person that lay on the other side of the room. The client, Yuki, was still unconscious. Her eyes looked back to Naru and the other already knew what she wanted to ask.

"Naru. What happened to him?" Mai asked softly. A slight blush crept onto her cheeks as she remembered the hug that the client gave her.

Naru noticed but made no comment about it.

"He's not the same with what happened to you. It just seems that he's been unconscious for that long." Naru's eyes turned to slits. "A logical reason is that, this is the first time that his body was possessed. His body was not able to take it that easily so it has to adjust itself."

"This man is not a medium." Lin seconded the motion. "Therefore, not used to being possessed by spirits."

As if on cue, the platinum blonde visitor opened his eyes slowly. He was blinking a few times before trying to stand up. The other three watched him as he sat up the sofa. He appeared as if he just awoke from a long sleep.

"W-what…." Yuki asked weakly. "W-where am I…"

His eyes met those of Mai's then he turned to Naru who gazed at him with daggers, that if looks could kill, he would have been dead long before. He blinked another time and then turned to look around the room. A voice startled him as he turned his eyes back to the one who spoke.

"You do not remember what happened?" Mai asked softly.

Yuki just shook his head once. He looked up at the ceiling while wincing his eyes a bit. It was almost noticeable that there was a drastic change of attitude. From someone who was boastful and noisy not to mention aggressive, to someone who was calm and collected. She could not even believe her eyes that this was the same person. Yuki took a move to place his legs down from his lying position to a position comfortably sitting on the sofa.

"It seems that I probably caused some kind of…commotion here as well." Yuki looked at them sternly. He bowed his head and then apologized. "I apologize."

"As well?" Naru inquired. That was something. It means that this does not happen only once.

"Yes." Yuki looked up and stared at him. "I have been getting this weird dreams for the past few days. Sometimes I would wake up in a different place or someone will tell me that I broke something or did something wrong. But I always do not remember it."

Yuki got into thinking before saying something again.

"I apologize again for what happened."

"Lin." Naru ordered and without any instructions Lin went towards the man and sat in front of him.

This took Yuki aback for a bit but he regained his composure. He was able to glance at some of the areas in the room and had enough proof that he went to a place that studies paranormal activities. He thought that this would be the best. Some told him to go to a psychological institute for mental health because they thought he was some kind of crazy person. He almost believed it too.

He read a lot of books on psychological behavior and he indeed classified as one of those you could call MPD, or Multiple Personality Disorder. This disorder was classified as someone who has different personalities, that when that personality was at move, the other personalities would not be able to know what happened.

It was accurate right?

True.

But somehow, deep within him, he knew he was not crazy.

"You…" Lin spoke after a few minutes. "You're a medium."

He contradicted what he said a few minutes ago.

"Medium?" Yuki was not very knowledgeable in this kind of studies. He was after all a doctor. This kind of things really did go against his beliefs.

Mai almost wanted to make a slight pin on that. She wanted to ask if he was a "large" but she gathered that it was not time for jokes.

"He means, you are someone who's compatible for spirits. You're a doctor, right?" Naru stepped forward his hands over his chest. "This might seem incompatible with your beliefs, but indeed you're what we paranormal believers call as a body compatible to be used by spirits or ghosts to do their unfinished business."

"Compatible?" Yuki already knew what he was trying to say but it was something that his reasoning wasn't used to hearing. "I seem to understand, but it's something that my reasoning cannot grasp. And by any chance, how did you know that I am a doctor?"

"I am a researcher. I know my ways in things and I am very efficient." Naru replied.

_Ah, there it is. Naru the Narcissistic. _Mai sighed. She almost wanted to smile at the smug reply. But this was client business and she was not about to wish for death. She simply listened to the conversation between the two men.

"Dr. Yuki. Do you have ancestors who have mental disorders?" Naru frankly asked.

"NARU!" Mai was about to scold him when Yuki answered. Sometimes, Naru did say some things so frankly that if a person was sensitive, it would be offensive.

"I do not know." Yuki appeared to be deep in thought. Mai almost fell on her chair seeing at how calm the person took the question. "Perhaps some had special skills. From my mother, I heard that my great grandfather had some…special skills."

"That's accurate." Naru replied. He placed down a chart showing Yuki's family tree. "Dr. Yuki, your great grandparents are both Buddhist Monks. They are focused in eliminating paranormal activities in Jyushu. They were good enough to be able to exorcise spirits from some of the townspeople."

Yuki listened attentively.

"There is a thin line differentiating paranormal behavior to abnormal behavior. The other is classified as a phenomenon and the other is a disorder." Naru continued. "In your case, your ancestors have decided that a part of your fate would be to serve as a medium for souls. However, being a medium of souls is usually triggered by some event. Either you have encountered an unexpected situation where you got involved in a curse, you were cursed, or you met someone who opened up your abilities."

Mai listened to him. Somehow, in her case, it was more like someone awakened her powers at the same time, there were unexpected situations where she got involved in a curse.

"I seem to understand." Yuki just nodded. "Anyway…"

He stood up while dusting his clothes. Naru stood up as well. The director of SPR stared at the man who looked at him coldly as well.

"I have to go." Yuki continued. "I still have to go back to the hospital."

"I understand. May I ask one last question, Dr. Yuki." Naru inquired. Yuki simply nodded. "How long has it been that you have been acting like this? What has triggered this event to occur?"

Yuki seems to be thinking about something. Naru waited patiently.

"I remember, about two weeks ago." Yuki replied. "There was a patient."

"Patient?" Naru continued.

"Yes. But she died last night." Yuki appeared to be deep in thought for a while. "It was sudden. She suddenly stopped breathing then her heart stop breathing and she died. Not while muttering something…"

_A girl…_ Mai felt shivers run down her spine.

"She was about 7 to 10 years old. Her doctor was not around during that time and I took a look at her." Yuki looked as if he was zoning out. "She was so young."

"Why was she in the hospital?" Mai inquired. Somehow, this got her interest.

"Bruises and deep cuts. She was beaten up by someone." Yuki answered. "When asked she wouldn't tell. But somehow, she managed to stay alive after such a beating."

Naru noticed that they were talking about something that shook Mai up. The girl's expression was that of desperation and panic. She looked as if she knew the girl but at the same time did not. He simply looked and listened to their discussion.

"Do you know her?" Yuki asked the unspoken question. Mai was taken by surprise and all she could do was shake her head.

"Uh…no." Mai replied bowing her head. Truth be told, somehow she knew…

It was that girl in her dreams. Even though there are a lot of girls that would classify as the person that this man was talking about, she firmly believed that this girl that he was talking about was the same girl that she met in her dreams—the child that told her that she should not come back.

"What did the child say?" Naru asked sensing a lull moment between the two.

Yuki turned to him and continued to fix his things and got ready to leave.

"She said…" Yuki looked up to Naru as he took his coat, getting ready to go out of the room.

"**Help me."

* * *

**

**TBC**

To be continued.

Please read and review.


	4. Chapter 4

**CROSSING OVER**

"_Chapter 3"_

_Thoughts and Emotions_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt and any of the characters. Some of the characters in this fanfiction are created for the purpose of creating a deeper plot. There may be some violent scenarios during the entire story. There is no yaoi, shounen-ai, or yuri in this story. Keep and open mind and read at your own risk.

Please read and review. Thank you! It would really motivate me to write more chapters. Please tell me what you think of it so I could improve and continue to write more articles.

**To those who gave me constructive criticisms about my tenses, thank you so much. It helped me watch out at least for some of the errors. Forgive me for the errors that I have committed for the first chapters. I was in a hurry to update then and upload the stories that it passed my mind to edit the story. **

**To those who liked my story, thank you so much. It means a lot to me that there are people who review my story. Please continue to do so. I apologize for taking some time to update, it has been a tough week and the schedule was too tight. I also had to watch the anime again to get my momentum going again.

* * *

**

_**It was that girl in her dreams. Even though there are a lot of girls that would classify as the person that this man was talking about, she firmly believed that this girl that he was talking about was the same girl that she met in her dreams—the child that told her that she should not come back.**_

"_**What did the child say?" Naru asked sensing a lull moment between the two.**_

_**Yuki turned to him and continued to fix his things and got ready to leave.**_

"_**She said…" Yuki looked up to Naru as he took his coat, getting ready to go out of the room.**_

"_**Help me."

* * *

**_

"Mai, tea." Naru ordered from his room.

Mai grumbled. Honestly, after working for a long time in the presence of that cold man, there were still instances that he drove her patience to the wall. She mumbled to herself sometimes trying to make fun out of the situation. The times that Ayako-san, Bou-san, John-san, and Hara-san were there were really fun. It was way past the monotonous session. But at the same time, it has some pitfalls. Because knowing that they are there means that they have some sort of important mission.

She stomped her way to the kitchen with a slight pout on her face.

"Argh, he could have just said please! But no, he would rather be simple and say "Mai, tea". I don't get it, he burns more calories talking than staying still as a rock and as cold as an icicle." Mai opened the bottle of tea leaves. "It's annoying! Argh, why won't this open?! Annoying can, why I…"

The suddenly it hit her again.

She paused and looked at the bottle. She remembered that dream yet again. It came back to her as vivid, almost as if she came back there again. But she knew that she was here, breathing normally and still alive. However, it was scary to know that she stopped breathing while she was in that dream.

She stared far away and looked at the side.

Honestly, that was not the only thing that was bothering her. What bothered her was that the realization that hit her awhile ago. She died during her dream.

Funny isn't it. But her powers were getting stronger that she could talk to people in her dream in a plane where it would be defined as something between living and dying. She was almost sure that if she stayed there for more than the time required, she would see a death god and it would take her with him or her.

She shook her head wildly. It was definitely something that she did not like.

She was too young to die.

She still did not have someone important in her life.

She still does not have any children.

She wasn't finished with her schooling yet…

She…

She was surprised that when the last thought passed her mind, she felt warm tears fall down her cheeks. She placed a palm over her left cheek and suddenly all the well up tears started to fall down.

She fell down her knees and started crying on her own.

"I…"

**"I don't want to die…"**

* * *

He saw the silhouette of the young girl through his door. He closed his eyes for a moment reflecting back at the incident regarding Mai's new abilities. He was a bit nervous when he saw that Mai was not breathing back then. He didn't really understand why, but he wanted to almost break down his barriers and panic himself to death. But since he was Shibuya Kazuya, he did not do so.

It was not really 30 minutes straight that the girl was not breathing. There were just some times that she would stop breathing and then breathe again. Almost like she was being chased again and again and that she was losing her breath. But there was at least about 2 to 3 minutes during the entire stretch that she turned almost blue.

Lin and Naru almost panicked when they saw her like that. She appeared as if she was dead. Her body was turning cold. It was nothing like any other that they have experienced. It was not really something that you would consider a "normal" thing to happen in anyone's life. It was a bit unnerving—okay, a lot unnerving.

Seriously though, if he would have been very emotional, he was crying already.

But then they were surprised when she suddenly opened her eyes and then all of a sudden appear as if she just woke up from a long sleep. It was disturbing to say the least but they were just relieved that she was still alive. They told her that she was not breathing for 30 minutes. The reason why the somehow lied, or partly lied, was because they almost felt as if she was not breathing for 3 hours or so. It was a different experience from the person who stopped breathing and the person who watched the person lose his or her breath. Naru believes, it's more terrifying for the latter.

"Naru?" Mai asked leaning down at the man who had his eyes closed. "Are you sleeping?"

Naru slightly opened his eyes to look at the girl in front of him. It was amazing how she grew with him and Lin for the past few months, or was it years. She was still thin. Her auburn hair still glistened as the sun passes through them. Her skin, still porcelain white as ever, and her lips….

_Eh?!! _Naru stopped.

Wait. That was…

Lips?!

Eh?!

Naru mentally shook his head, bopped himself on his desk, and shouted to himself "idiot" for thinking such ideas towards his assistant. It may appear as if he did not move at all, but he was undergoing a mental struggle with his id—or the part of him that was pure intuition and irrationalities, versus his ego—or the more rational part. Somehow the superego—his conscience, refuses to even butt in the mental struggle.

* * *

"Naru?" Mai was a bit worried. Who wouldn't be? Naru, the normal one, would have already told her off by then.

Something similar to this…

"_I am thinking can't you see?_

"_I am reflecting on the case. Thank you for the tea. You may go."_

Or

"_Do you need something else?"_

But well, none of those seemed to be the situation right now. Her boss was stone silent. It was definitely weird. She leaned forward and Naru immediately turned to the side and she pulled back quickly. The scene went in a flash. One second Naru was staring into space and Mai was leaning forward, the next Mai was near the door and Naru was standing near her.

Mai felt her breath caught up her throat. True. There were some instances that she dreamt of this situation and even more, but somehow she believed that the dream that had those kinds were her fantasies only. But now, Naru stood a good three to five steps away from her and looked a little shy.

Naru on the other hand didn't really understand what happened. When he saw Mai leaning towards him, he suddenly had the urge to stand up and embrace her. So his body suddenly moved on its own and then stood up which surprised the girl and she went straight to the door.

She looked…

Looked…

Really pretty

Her expression was that of surprise. Her eyes were her windows to her soul and it looked like she wanted to ask something but dare not to. Naru thought of a way to actually escape the situation but then again, what sort of excuse could he come up by suddenly standing up and trying to go after her? He looked like a freaking stalker for a few moments there.

Mai felt as if she could hear her own heartbeat. She did not know what she was feeling. She felt as if she was a bit excited, afraid, confused, nervous… She honestly did not know. She looked straight to Naru and saw him looking at the side. His head tilted a little sideways with his slight frown. His eyes were a bit different. It was still stiff and cold, but it seems that there is something else there. She did not know what it is and would rather not know. She closed her eyes to throw away her irrelevant ideas.

Then all of a sudden, a warm hand landed on top of her head. Her eyes widened. She looked up and saw Naru looking straight but his hand rested on top of her head. She was surprised to say the least. Naru seemed to be debating against himself before starting to talk.

There was silence for a while before a male voice broke the calm.

"It'll be alright." Naru reassured. His voice was low and deep. It was as if he was a little 'shy' when he said it too.

Mai looked up, totally surprised with what she heard him say. His hand wasn't moving from its position over her head. Naru looked down, this time his eyes were different. It was almost the same as the Naru that she often sees in her dreams. He looked like the Naru that always told her to watch out, who always taught her to do things right, who gave her warnings at times that she was in danger, and the Naru that always reassured her in her most desperate times.

This time…

This Naru is doing that.

The Naru that she sees when she's awake.

The Naru that she fell in love with.

She felt her cheeks flame up with the proximity. The intense gaze that Naru gave her sent chills down her spine that she felt her knees almost near to breaking point. She felt so weak on the knees and she wanted to simply fall down the ground. She could not even begin to comprehend as to why Naru is doing this now.

It this some sort of show, performance, joke, or whatever?

She did not know.

Her thoughts were broken off when Naru spoke again.

"It's really terrifying to experience death." Naru explained. "I understand that you must have been very afraid after we informed you of the time that you stopped breathing."

Naru continued.

"Mai, don't worry so much about it. You are alive and that is good."

"Yes." Mai nodded, feeling a bit sad again. "But, I was really scared. I don't know what I should do. I'm afraid to go back to sleep, thinking that I would experience the same thing. And then next time I would not even be able to wake up anymore."

Naru listened carefully. Mai continued to share her sentiments and her frustrations.

"I don't want to die." Mai muttered softly, feeling very vulnerable. "I still want to do a lot of things…"

Naru looked down. He knew that she was scared that she stopped breathing, but he did not realize that it already went this far.

"How many times have you dreamt the same dream?" Naru asked, pulling back his hand. Mai felt the sudden gush of cold wind in the place where Naru placed his hand.

Somehow a feeling of disappointment went to her heart.

"Two." Mai replied. Her head bowed down. "I thought that it was nothing. Then…"

"It became worse." Naru continued. Mai simply nodded.

"I didn't know that I stop breathing during those times that I get those dreams. I'm afraid." Mai embraced herself, as if trying to shield herself from unseen enemies. "The feeling of dying is different."

"I don't want to die Naru!" Mai looked up to him, her eyes pleading for help. She did not know why she did that, but her instincts just suddenly took over and she blurted out her frustrations.

"I still want to be happy. I want to experience so much more. I want to see the world. I want to be successful." Mai's voice quivered. She could feel that tears were starting to well up in her eyes and she felt like she wanted to cry.

She was holding back. Trying not to breakdown in front of her boss.

Naru nodded. He understood her fear, knew exactly what she meant. So he suddenly placed both his hands on each of her shoulders. It successfully made her stop and look at him. His piercing blue eyes stared down to her hazel colored orbs. Naru nodded and spoke.

"I understand." He paused then continued. "Mai. I know."

"But…" Mai wanted to counter but was cut off.

"**I will protect you." **Naru continued. He appeared as if he was taken aback with his own words. He bravely made a follow-up.

"We will protect you." Naru made a lame follow-up.

Mai felt happy at the same time disappointed. A smile came out of her lips and she looked up and gave a slight nod.

"Thank you." Mai appreciated this one. Deep in her heart, she felt really happy with this conversation. But something was bothering her, even for the slightest bit. So she decided to ask instead of making it stay as a part of her thoughts.

"Naru…" Mai smiled. "Why are you…being nice?"

Naru simply smiled slightly but did not answer. He simply went back to his seat and sat back down looking through his papers. He looked up and saw that Mai was expecting an answer to her question. He honestly wished that he could simply go by not answering that question. But true enough, he's not really going to get off the hook that easily.

So he decided to answer. An answer that he would normally give…

"**No one will make tea for me."** Naru pulled up one notebook. "Let's get back to work"

Mai pouted slightly.

"Wah! You're mean!" Mai shouted and Naru smiled a little.

But for her, that experience a while ago, hearing those words from him was enough to brighten up her day. Although the end was lousy, she would feel a little better than a while ago. She simply nodded and proceeded to go out of the room.

* * *

Naru watched her make a polite bow and exit the room. When the door closed, he placed the notebook down and looked at the door. He sighed. This sigh was so heavy as if he was holding it since the conversation with Mai started.

He looked up and closed his eyes again.

It was definitely different to think about saying something and felt like saying something. Thinking and Feeling were two different things. Thoughts and emotions are what made a human different than that of an animal.

And in this case, thoughts were used instead of emotions. So the words that came out of his mouth were something that his brain agreed for him to say and yet his heart criticized him for that.

The question that Mai asked a while ago came back to him…

"_**Naru…" Mai smiled. "Why are you…being nice?"**_

He sighed again.

He did not answer as truthfully as possible. But he wanted to give her at least a piece of reassurance. However, he felt slightly disappointed at himself for not being able to say the thing that he wanted to say at that time.

When he watched her leave, he felt as if he wanted to say it. But it was too late.

This time he answered truthfully.

"**Because, I won't take it that I would lose another person who is important to me…"

* * *

**

TBC

Please read and review.

Thank you so much!


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